The London Guantánamo has been campaigning since 2006 for the return of all British residents from the Guantánamo Bay prison camp, the release of all prisoners, the closure of this prison and other similar prisons and an end to the practice of extraordinary rendition. Human rights for all.

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

A well-attended and informative meeting was held at the
Houses of Parliament on 19 April to provide information and an update on the
case of best-selling author and Guantánamo prisoner Mohamedou Ould Slahi, who
has been held without charge or trial since November 2001, when he was
kidnapped from his native Mauritania by the CIA. From there, he was taken to
Jordan and tortured before being taken to Bagram, Afghanistan, where he faced
further abuse before he was taken to Guantánamo in November 2002. For several
years, his whereabouts were unknown to his family; he had simply “disappeared”.

(L-R) Jamie Byng, Jo Glanville, Nancy Hollander, Yahdih Ould Slahi

The meeting was hosted by Tom Brake MP (Lib Dem, Carshalton
and Wallington), who stated that “as long as Guantánamo is open it remains a
blot on US justice.” As part of the meeting, a letter was announced, for MPs
and peers to sign (please see below), to be sent to the US Defence Secretary
Ashton Carter demanding that he “Immediately certify to Congress that Mr. Slahi
will be released” and “Ensure that Mr. Slahi is quickly transferred out of
Guantánamo Bay so he can restart his life as a free man.”

The meeting was started and concluded with readings from Guantánamo
Diary, as well as before the Q&A session. The readings were provided skilfully
by actors Sanjeev Bhaskar and Toby Jones; they were to be joined by actor Jude
Law who was unable to make it to the meeting.

Mohamedou Ould Slahi’s lawyer, Nancy Hollander spoke about
his case. She took up the case in 2005 after having being contacted by a lawyer
in France who via a lawyer in Mauritania had learned that his family thought he
might be held at Guantánamo Bay and wanted to find out if it was true. Ms
Hollander applied through the courts to find out from the US government. Once
it was ascertained that he was being held at Guantánamo, she went to meet him
with fellow lawyer Sylvia Royce. When they met him for the first time, they
were bemused to find him smiling and with his arms out to welcome them but he
did not come towards them; he stood where he was. They later realised that was
because he was shackled. So they went towards him and embraced him.

He had asked the guards to give him paper and wrote 90 pages
about his life, kidnap and torture. At that point, his lawyers did not know if
his story was true, but that turned out to be the case. His writings show that
throughout he has maintained his dignity and humanity. Incredibly, Mr Ould
Slahi wrote in English, a language he largely picked up after his imprisonment
and through talking to guards, many of whom developed a friendly and warm
relationship with him.

In 2010, Mohamedou Ould Slahi was granted a hearing in the
US federal court. Judge Robertson, at the time, ordered his immediate release
as there was no evidence to support his continued detention. As in many other
cases, the Obama administration appealed the case. The court of appeal asked
for the case to be reheard but it never happened. In 2011, Barack Obama issued
an executive order setting up the Prisoner Review Board to consider all cases
such as Mr Ould Slahi’s of prisoners who have not been cleared for release but
potentially could be. The Board was to conclude its work within one year but
did not even start until 2013, and has to date not considered each of the
several dozen cases before it. It is only now, on 2 June, that Mohamedou Ould
Slahi will go before the board for the first time.

Ms Hollander said that it is important that everyone should
read his book and learn his story and ultimately help in the effort to free
Mohamedou Ould Slahi and close Guantánamo.

Yahdih Ould Slahi and Nancy Hollander

Speaking through a German interpreter, Yahdih Ould Slahi,
Mohamedou Ould Slahi’s younger brother, said that if he was to talk about his
brother’s case and the impact it has had on his family, he would probably be
there all night and the next day, but that his family had forgiven those who
had harmed his brother and they just wish that he can go home. He thanked the
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and everyone involved in the campaign for
justice for his brother.

He said that on the day Mohamedou Ould Slahi was arrested,
he was at home with his mother. They were both reassured that he would only be
held in Mauritania. Instead he was taken to Jordan. Not knowing where her son
was, his mother would take clothes and food to the police to give to Mohamedou
Ould Slahi thinking that they were giving it to him. Yahdih Ould Slahi said
that he was not surprised by the corrupt actions of Mauritanian officials but
was surprised that the US would behave the way it did. He said that he wanted
the American people to know that “The pain caused on and after 9/11 isn’t only
the US’s pain, it’s our pain too.”

Yahdih Ould Slahi said, “We hope and we live in hope that Guantánamo
will be closed one day as President Obama said. I don’t know why it isn’t.”

Jo Glanville from English Pen described Guantánamo Diary
as an extraordinary book “full of humanity”. Mohamedou Ould Slahi wrote the
book in English even though he had learned this language there simply by
communicating with guards. She called it “the prison memoir of our times” and
of particular importance as he was “’disappeared’ by a country that sees itself
as a beacon of human rights”. Picking up on the issue of censorship – it took
many years for the book to see the light of day – she mentioned that it
contains 2600 redactions, including of whole pages and sections. Ms Glanville
stated that censorship is integral to the post-9/11 US and the secrecy
surrounding the US’s practices at Guantánamo and elsewhere needs to be broken
down.

Jamie Byng, from Canongate, publisher of Guantánamo Diary
said that in reading the manuscript he was “humbled, enraged but also moved by
how Mohamedou Ould Slahi expressed himself so articulately.” The book has been
translated and published in 24 languages and more are planned. He called it an
important human document and a reminder of what still happens at Guantánamo. Mr
Byng said there is a need to show solidarity in Britain to get Mohamedou Ould
Slahi released.

There are currently plans to turn the book into a film
produced by Benedict Cumberbatch.

Unfortunately, only a handful of MPs were present at the otherwise
well-attended event. The US ambassador to the UK declined an invitation to
attend the meeting. The Mauritanian chargé d’affaires attended and said on
behalf of his government that the Mauritanian authorities are willing to
receive Mohamedou Ould Slahi and have him return home to his family. He pointed
out that two other former Guantánamo prisoners have been released to the
country and have been resettled. He said that his country is opposed to
arbitrary detention and detention without trial.

3 – The following letter will be signed by British
politicians and celebrities to be sent to US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter.
Please send it to your MP (find them at www.theyworkforyou.com)
and ask them to add their name to it – please let us know their response:

Dear Secretary Carter,

Mohamedou Slahi has been unlawfully imprisoned by the U.S.
government for 14 years. Thirteen of those years have been at Guantánamo
Bay prison, where he was subjected to gruesome torture.

Mr. Slahi has never been charged with a crime.He has never taken part in any hostilities
against the United States. A former chief military prosecutor in the Guantánamo
military commissions, Colonel Morris Davis, has said he couldn’t
find any crime with which to charge Mr. Slahi.

At long last, Mr. Slahi has been granted the Periodic Review
Board hearing he should have had five years ago. At this hearing he can prove
he’s
not a threat to the United States and that there is no reason to continue to
hold him.

Despite all his suffering, Mr. Slahi has repeatedly stated -
including in his best-selling book - that he bears no ill will towards anyone.

Assuming a positive outcome in Mr. Slahi’s
Periodic Review Board hearing, we the undersigned, call upon you to:

1. Immediately certify to Congress that Mr. Slahi will be
released.

2. Ensure that Mr. Slahi is quickly transferred out of Guantánamo
Bay so he can restart his life as a free man.

Monday, April 04, 2016

Former Guantánamo military commander, retired
US General Geoffrey Miller, failed to appear at a court
hearing in Paris on 1 March, after he was summoned in February to answer questions
about the torture and arbitrary detention of three French nationals at Guantánamo
Bay, where they were held from 2002 to 2005. The summons and hearing followed
investigations that showed there are potential charges to answer related to the
abuse and torture of these men. Lawyers from the US NGO Center for
Constitutional Rights (CCR) and the Berlin-based European Center for
Constitutional and Human Rights are now seeking a warrant for his arrest to compel
him to appear. They issued a joint statement after his no-show, which says: “Miller’s
absence speaks volumes about the Obama administration’s continued unwillingness
to confront America’s torture legacy. The administration not only refuses to
investigate U.S. officials like Miller for torture, it apparently remains
unwilling to cooperate with international torture investigations like the one
in France. Geoffrey Miller has much to answer for regarding the treatment of
detainees during his tenure.”

The Obama administration is pressing ahead
with its 4-point plan unveiled in February with respect to Guantánamo.

At the end of March, Pentagon officials
stated that it plans to transfer around one dozen Guantánamo prisoners who have
been cleared for release in April to two countries that have agreed to take
them. This includes Yemeni hunger striker Tariq Ba Odah who, as a result of his
long-term hunger strike, weighs less than 40kg. 37 prisoners are currently
cleared for release.

Germany has said that it may consider taking
some prisoners if asked by the US. It has already taken in two prisoners – a stateless
Palestinian and a Syrian – in 2010 in addition to one German national.

In addition, a number of prisoners whose status
has not been resolved have had dates set for them to appear before the
administrative periodic review board, which decides whether prisoners can be
cleared for released or must remain at Guantánamo. This procedure was
introduced in 2011 and was supposed to have been completed for all prisoners
whose status had not been resolved by the end of that year. Among those who
will be brought before the review board is Mauritanian prisoner Mohamedou Ould
Slahi who will have a review in June. As well as the author of the best-selling
Guantánamo Diary, in 2015 he lost a court case to force the US military
to give him a review of his status. According to lawyers from the American
Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), “More than anything,
Mohamedou wants to show the board that he poses no threat to the United States
and should be allowed to return home to his family where he belongs.” The ACLU also
states that “Slahi was one of two so-called “Special
Projects” whose treatment then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld personally
approved. The abuse included beatings, extreme isolation, sleep deprivation,
sexual molestation, frigid rooms, shackling in stress positions, death threats
against him, and threats against his mother.”

On 8 March, 68-year old Saifullah Paracha,
the oldest detainee at Guantánamo had his status reviewed. A businessman, Paracha
was kidnapped in Bangkok in 2003 while on a business trip and is alleged to
have links to Al Qaeda. His lawyers are fairly confident that he will be
released given his age and his worsening health, which rule him out as a threat
to the US. http://www.dawn.com/news/1244538/gitmo-detainee-saifullah-paracha-gets-first-parole-hearing

Yemeni Sharqawi Abdu
Ali Al Hajj also had his review hearing in March. The US has alleged that he
has links to Al Qaeda and other terrorist organisations.

The Indonesian government has stated that it
does not want Riduan Isamuddin, a.k.a. Hambali,
an
Indonesian national held at Guantánamo, back if the prison closes. Hambali was
rendered in Thailand in 2003 and “disappeared” into secret CIA prisons before
being taken to Guantánamo in 2006 as a high-value prisoner. Alleged to have
links to the 9/11 hijackers and the mastermind behind the 2002 bombing in Bali, and
described by former Australian prime minister John
Howard as “almost certainly the ultimate mastermind” of the latter attack in 2003, he has never
faced any charges at Guantánamo. He was named in the 2014 Senate report into CIA
torture.

Although the Indonesian government alleges
that his release to the country would give a boost to domestic terrorist organisations,
it may also wish to avoid questions about its role in the rendition and torture
of its own citizens.

One month after Barack Obama unveiled his
4-point plan on the future of Guantánamo Bay the issue was discussed for the first
time with the House Foreign Affairs Committee in
Washington by Paul M. Lewis, the US Department of Defense’s special envoy for
Guantánamo closure, and Lee Wolosky, the State Department’s special envoy for Guantánamo
closure. They stated that closing Guantánamo was a matter of national security.
Lewis said that Obama’s 4-point plan will ““continue to transfer [detainees],
accelerate the [Periodic Review Board] process, look for individual
dispositions and, most importantly, work with Congress to find a location to
transfer everybody from Guantanamo safely and securely.”

A two-week pre-trial hearing in the case of
five men accused of involvement in 9/11 attacks in New York in 2001 due to
start on 4 April was abruptly cancelled by the military judge just days before after
receiving a secret filing in the case from the Defense department which may
impact the hearing. There have been no hearings for the past two months due to
cancellations. This case is due to be heard next in early June, although two
other military tribunal cases are scheduled for hearing in May.

The March Shut
Guantánamo demonstration was on Thursday 3 March and was exceptionally held in
the evening to protest Barack Obama’s 4-point plan on the future of Guantánamo which
does not include an end to indefinite arbitrary detention. The April
demonstration is on 7 April at the usual time of 12-1pm outside the US Embassy
and 1.15-2.15pm outside Speaker’s Corner, Hyde Park, opposite Marble Arch https://www.facebook.com/events/1099833546704485/

The LGC
(@shutguantanamo) is continuing to hold weekly #GitmObama Twitter storms to
raise awareness about Guantánamo prisoners every Monday at 9pm GMT. The pastebin
is available http://pastebin.com/zpx5F7ab
which is updated weekly with the latest information and tweets to raise
awareness about Guantánamo. Please join us online if you can!

Take action!

We hold a regular monthly demonstration calling for the closure of Guantánamo Bay. Our March demonstration is on Thursday 8 March at 12-2pm outside the US Embassy, 33 Nine Elms Ln, London SW11 7US: https://www.facebook.com/events/975903689224552/

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About Me

The London Guantánamo Campaign has been campaigning since 2006 for the return of all British residents from the Guantánamo Bay prison camp, the release of all prisoners, the closure of this prison and other similar prisons and an end to the practice of extraordinary rendition. Also on Facebook and Twitter.